1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to text editors and, more particularly, to a text editor allowing word processing like operation with multidimensional or multidirectional text, such as text comprised of scientific and technical characters and symbols, including those used in the mathematical, physical and chemical fields, and the text of non-European languages.
2. Discussion of the Prior Art
The most common means for presenting, communicating and storing information is through visual representations of the information, for example, printed texts and images and, more recently, through equivalent electronic displays such as CRT screens connected from computer systems. In recent years, the facility with which texts and graphics images can be created and edited and printed, communicated and stored has been greatly facilitated by various word processing and graphics editor programs operating upon computers system. Both word and graphics processing systems have become well known and are readily and commonly available to the extent that practically any reasonable user requirements of system, features, operation and cost can be readily met.
A recurring problem with such systems, however, is that each type of system, that is, word processing or graphics processing, can operate only within a narrow range of information type and presentation. For example, word processing systems generally can operate only with standard text of the forms generally used in the European languages, such as English, that is, standard alpha-numeric characters of uniform, standard sizes and shapes arranged on a page in standard lines and columns to form lines and paragraphs. Within this constraint, however, the word processing programs are generally quite efficient and easy to use. Graphics programs, in contrast, deal with symbols and figures of variable shapes and sizes and their visual appearance and location upon a page. Such programs provide a means by which a user may define shapes and their sizes and locations upon the page and may place, move and change such shapes but are relatively more difficult for a user to learn and use.
This separation between word processing and graphics processing programs arises because the word processing data structures and data structure editors which are best adapted for creating and editing standard text are incompatible with the graphics data structures and data structure editors which best adapted to creating, editing and representing graphics symbols and figures. As described above, word processors are designed to operated with simple strings of standard, uniform elements arranged within a fixed array of possible locations on a page while graphics processors deal with variable lines and shapes which may be located anywhere on a page.
There is an area of information processing and presentation, however, which is neither strictly word processing nor strictly graphics processing and which is not adequately satisfied by systems of either of the types described above. This area of information processing and presentation may be generally defined as being comprised of those forms of text which are either multidimensional or multidirectional, or both. A primary and commonly seen example of such text is scientific text and symbols in the traditionally accepted forms, for example, equations, expressions or diagrams as used in the mathematical, chemical or physical fields and using the symbols and terms used in these fields. Other example, as previously described, include those languages wherein the text, that is, the positioning of the characters and symbols on the page and their logical and physical relationships to one another do not follow the one dimensional, monodirectional conventions of, for example, English, German, French or Italian. Examples such such foreign language texts may include the branches of the Indic language groups, such as used in India, and the texts of such countries as Sri Lanka, Burma, Thailand, and such languages as Chinese, Japanese and the various branches of the Arabic languages.
It is apparent from a study of a page of a text of this nature, for example, a page of scientific text, that the text is comprised of logical groupings of one or more character or symbol elements arranged in a meaningful manner relative to one another. It is further apparent, however, that the characters and symbols are of variable shape and size and that their locations relative to one another are also variable. It is yet further apparent that the geometric area occupied by a group of characters or symbols, and the location of that area on a page, will be determined by the structure of the group of characters or symbols and of the other groups of characters or symbols on the page, in particular the preceding groups on the page and perhaps the following groups on the same line.
In the prior art, the editors for such texts have generally fallen into one of the two types described before, that is, the word processing type or the graphics processing type. In the word processing type of text editor of the prior art, the editors have most frequently been adaptations of simple word processors, with some addition of characters and symbols to the standard character sets and formatting commands. This type of word processing text editor has been unsatisfactory because of the limited powers of expression available therefrom. That is, the characters and symbols are forced into the standard character sizes and proportions and may occupy only the positions generally provided in word processing, for example, simple superscripts and subscripts. Some word processing type text editors have attempted to provide a wider range of characters, symbols and expression, but have been markedly more difficult to use and generally cannot provide a representation of the appearance of the final page to the user during the creation and editing operations. That is, the wider range of expression is achieved by embedding control codes in the text during text creation and editing, but the user must actually print the page to have a representation of the true appearance of the page.
While graphics processing systems are much more flexible than word processing type systems in terms of the range of characters, symbols and expressions which may be created and presented, they are generally much more difficult to use, primarily because of their greater flexibility. In effect, the user must draw each individual character, symbol or line individually, or at least create a template of each type to appear in an expression, and then must position each character, symbol or line individually on the page. In terms of text editing, this approach is little better than having a template of characters and symbols, a piece of paper and a pen.
As will be described in the following, the text editor of the present invention overcomes these and other problems of the prior art by providing a text editor having a word-processor-like document creation and editing functionality together with a graphics-like visual representation suitable for creating and editing text and expressions which are multidimensional or multidirectional, or both, in their traditionally accepted forms, for example, equations, expressions or diagrams as used in the mathematical, chemical or physical fields and using the characters, symbols and terms commonly accepted and used in these fields.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide an improved text editing system for use with text which is multidimensional or multidirectional, or both.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide an improved text editing system for multidimensional or multidirectional text which provides a word-processor-like document creation and editing functionality.
It is another object of the present invention to provide an improved text processing system for multidimensional or multidirectional text which provides a visual representation suitable for creating and editing such texts and expressions in their traditionally accepted forms.